For Immediate Release
June 15, 2020
Contact: Stacy Johnston
Acting Public Information Officer
505.250.3926
Work search waiver scheduled to end on July 18th
Claimants on PUA will not be required to search for work
(Albuquerque, NM) – In March, the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (NMDWS) waived the work search requirements for Unemployment Insurance claimants who had lost their job or had hours reduced as a result of COVID-19. This waiver will end on July 18, 2020.
Claimants receiving benefits will be required to verify that at least two work searches occurred each week when submitting their certification. In upcoming weeks, NMDWS in coordination with New Mexico Workforce Connection offices, will be providing guidance, training, and workshop options to claimants that will satisfy the work search requirement for the week in which they attend.
Individuals receiving Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) – the self-employed, independent contractors, and gig economy workers – are not required by federal law to conduct work searches and will continue to receive a waiver. While the U.S. Department of Labor requires work searches for claimants receiving standard unemployment benefits, they have not instituted the same requirement for claimants on PUA.
In addition to the above change, NMDWS is advising all claimants that the last payable week for Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), an additional benefit of $600 per week, will be the week ending July 25, 2020.
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